Syracuse University men's lacrosse team rules all facets in opening victory over Denver

Syracuse, NY -- It was perfect preparation for an upcoming grudge match with Army.

Displaying midseason form in every facet of the game, the No. 2 Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team dominated No. 13 Denver 13-7 Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 4,262 in the Carrier Dome.

The Orange outshot the Pioneers 50-26. It won 17 of 24 faceoffs (70.8 percent). It controlled groundballs 35-16. It scored in transition. It scored off faceoffs. It scored in settled offense against Denver’s man defense. Finally, after struggling for a quarter, it dented Denver’s sagging zone.

It was impressive and should give the Cadets plenty to ponder as they prepare for Sunday’s 4 p.m. visit to the Dome, where they departed in May with a 9-8 double-overtime upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“Hopefully it’s going to be great preparation for next week,” SU coach John Desko said. “It was good beating a good team like Denver, a much-improved Denver team.”

It is true. The Pioneers (0-1) went 12-4 last season after being routed by SU 15-9 in the opener, a game in which Desko turned to his bench midway through the third quarter. Sunday, SU’s starters remained on the field until midway through the fourth.

“I thought coming in this time we could compete a little bit better,” Denver coach Bill Tierney said. “And I think if you look at the two years, losing by six goals in each one, I thought there was a difference. We played better this year than last. I think we’re a better team. I just wish we had showed it a little more on the field.”

In a way they did, weathering a furious 6-1 run by the Orange (1-0) early in the contest and clawing within 6-3 in the second quarter when Tierney shelved his man defense for a sagging zone that slowed the tempo of the game and stymied Syracuse momentarily.

“I would have liked to have us shoot a little better, especially in that second quarter,” Desko said, “but we didn’t. We kept working, though. I think it’s great preparation. A lot of teams are going to play us like Denver played us today.”

Army will certainly go the zone route, and it was encouraging that once the Orange began to run its offensive sets with more patience the goals began to come again, even though freshman goalie Jamie Faus was fabulous with 13 saves and several other SU shots rang off the post.

“He just told us to go out and relax and be patient,” sophomore attackman JoJo Marasco said of Desko’s halftime advice. “And I think that’s what we did.”

The result was a convincing victory in which:

Syracuse got goals from eight different players but no more than two from any one following its trademark trend of tremendous balance. Marasco and Stephen Keogh led the way with two goals and two assists.

“They play so unselfishly and they care so much about winning,” Tierney said. “And they don’t mind the extra pass. They get real excited when they score, and they don’t care about who scores. You look at the scoring column and nobody had more than two goals. As a coach I’d much rather see than then see one guy with seven and everybody else with nothing.”

Senior midfielder Jeremy Thompson won 11 of 14 faceoffs, scoring a goal off one of them and otherwise tilting the field heavily in SU’s favor in terms of possession time.

“I thought Jeremy Thompson did a very good job for a stretch to keep the possessions after goals in Orange sticks and put more pressure on their defense,” Desko said.

The SU defense, which led the nation a year ago by allowing only 7.4 goals per game, held the veteran Denver offense in check from start to finish. Senior John Lade, who missed last season’s opener with a hamstring injury, limited Pioneer star Alex Demopoulos to one assist. Last season Demopoulos scored four goals vs. the Orange.
“He’s a very good off-ball player, and I just tried to keep my head on a swivel and watch him off ball as much as possible,” Lade said. “I was surprised how much they didn’t give him the ball to dodge, because I think he is one of their best dodgers.”

Even junior attackman Tim Desko, who displayed a flair for showy goals last season, was back in midseason form. He took a Tom Palasek pass while driving across the top of the crease, was sent flying by a Denver defender and still managed to bury a behind-the-back shot.

“I just take what they give me,” Desko said.

“Ridiculous,” teammate Jovan Miller (2-0) said. “I didn’t think he could get a shot off because he was pretty much airborne. It was just ridiculous.”

That pretty much summed up Syracuse’s domination of a team that is expected to compete for another ECAC championship and return to the NCAA Tournament this season. Next up is Army.

Notes: Sophomore midfielder Ryan Barber missed the game due to illness. . . . The only true freshmen to play before Desko began to go to the bench were faceoff specialists Chris Daddio (4-for-6) and Ricky Buhr (2-3). . . . Siena and Air Force used the Dome to square off following the SU game.